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Mule Train Hauling Ore of the Congress Mining Co., Original Photo, c1892-5 [126926]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 600.00 USD
Mule Train Hauling Ore of the Congress Mining Co., Original Photo, c1892-5  [126926]
SOLD
325.00USD+ (81.25) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2021 Feb 13 @ 09:02UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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Mounted original photograph on F. A. Hartwell, Photographer, Phoenix board mount. "Views of the Salt River Valley and Throughout Arizona". 5 x 8" Mautz shows Hartwell as active in Phoenix 1889-1908. Inside the body of the photograph is the photographer's notation: "819. Mule Train / C Mine, A.T." The photo shows more than eight large ore wagons, each with a ten mule team pulling the wagons. The term "C" is difficult to unravel, but in the Poole Bros Mining Directory for 1892 and 1898, there are only a few major mines of "C" listed, either by town or by mining company name, the largest of which is the Congress Gold Mine in Yavapai County, located not too far outside Phoenix near Wickenburg, an area that was definitely within the "Salt River Valley" and local to Hartwell. According to Poole, the Congress gold mine was the largest employer in mining in Arizona Territory that year at 400 men. It would take a mine of this size to produce the massive amount of ore present in these ore wagons. Further research verifies our supposition on the shipment of ore from the great Congress Gold Mine. The Congress gold mine was a major producer during the economic decline of the 1890s. It was the largest employer at 350 to 400 men working underground , plus surface employees. In 1892 the company had two deep shafts. By 1896 there were three shafts, two of which were down to 1800 feet by 1898, the deepest in Arizona. In 1896, the company began shipping ore 30 miles on an oil burning locomotive of a private mine rail line, the D. A. V. & P. Railroad, according to an article in the Mining & Scientific Press (8.8.1896. p 107). The photo, therefore, must pre-date 1896. (see also E & MJ 4.9.1898, p439; 5.22.1897, p192, 518; 10.23.1897 , p494). This is a very important photo of record for Arizona's one-time largest gold mine, in full production at a time of severe economic depression across America.

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State: Arizona
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